AVB’s Tottenham

With the formal announcement yesterday of Andre Villas-Boas’ installation as Spurs’ new Head Coach (raising the likelihood of a return to the continental system, incidentally), many supporters’ thoughts have turned to what sort of style of play and line-ups we can expect to see next season. While never really that successful at Chelsea (see my previous post), the “AVB system” at Porto was a brilliant success, and one which made him one of the hottest properties in football just 12 months ago. So what is this system, how was it implemented at Porto and Chelsea, and how might it work at Spurs?

Andre Villas-Boas was officially unveiled as Spurs manager yesterday.

The basics

Villas-Boas is a big advocate of possession football, in the most basic terms. He expects his sides to retain possession, in order to frustrate the opposition and make them resort to route one-type play. Creative midfielders that can orchestrate the play and pick out key passes are central to this system, and can be seen in his two biggest and most protracted signings (or attempts) in Moutinho for Porto, and Tottenham’s own Modric at Chelsea. The 4-3-3 system is used, with three midfielders, typically one ballwinning, one creative, one “box-to-box”, two pacy wingers with a good shot on them, and a single goal poaching striker up front. Attacking fullbacks will often overlap and get forwards with the reduced playing area ahead of them working in their favour.

When not in possession, the back line is pushed forwards and high up the pitch. This literally makes the playing area of the pitch smaller for the opposition, with all team members expected to then press the players in possession to regain control of the ball. This is a key aspect, and obviously requires two main attributes – players with a lot of stamina who can carry on this high-tempo style for the full 90 minutes, and quick defenders who can make up a lot of ground should a ball be played through into the space behind them. This last point is arguably one of the main factors in his failures at Chelsea.

At Porto

AVB had just one season at Porto but won three trophies, an amazing achievement for any manager. There were some players of immense quality already in the squad when Villas-Boas arrived, Radamel Falcao being a prime example, but the Portuguese wasted no time in bringing in players who he believed were essential for his system. Moutinho, mentioned above, was identified by AVB as his midfield playmaker, despite being an established player at Lisbon giants Sporting. A protracted and bitter transfer saga erupted, which led to Moutinho eventually forcing through a €10m move and being described as a “rotten apple” by the Sporting top brass. While not the most pleasant of stories, it shows how important AVB saw this role, and how clear he must have made his desire to get his top transfer target to those in charge of the finances at Porto.

Creative midfielder Joao Moutinho was key to AVB’s system at Porto.

The AVB system paid dividends, and within 12 months of his arrival Porto had won the Portuguese League and Cup double, as well as the Europa League, with striker Falcao the tournament’s top goalscorer. It was little surprise, therefore, when he was snapped up by Chelsea as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement.

At Chelsea

In a replication of his major transfer saga on joining Porto, Chelsea soon made moves to sign Tottenham’s Luka Modric as the playmaker in Villas-Boas’ system. Despite a lengthy, public and rather bitter struggle, Spurs chairman Levy held his nerve and rebuffed all approaches for Modric. Frank Lampard, more often playing in a role further forward for Chelsea, was often shoehorned into this position instead, with little success. Also brought in by Villas-Boas with the now-huge funds at his disposal were the creative and hugely talented Juan Mata, powerful and pacy forward Romelu Lukaku, and midfielder Raul Meireles, formerly of Porto himself. Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge were employed as AVB’s wide forwards, often with limited effect as neither were out-and-out wingers. As it became apparent that John Terry’s physical abilities were somewhat lacking and very prone to expoitation from balls being played into the space behind him (as realised by Terry himself as he started playing further back and therefore crippling AVB’s system), Gary Cahill was quickly snapped up in the January transfer window, but by then, most of the damage had been done, and Villas-Boas was out of a job by March.

At Spurs

So, the question now is, how will this system work at Spurs? We have already seen fleeting glances of the 4-3-3 last season, with Van der Vaart and Bale playing alongside Adebayor upfront in the absence of Lennon through injury, with Parker, Sandro and Modric as the midfield three. However, Van der Vaart may be forced to drop deeper in AVB’s system and sit with the midfield as he does for the Dutch national side. With the expected retirement of Ledley King and arrival of cultured centre back Jan Vertonghen from Ajax, we could expect to see a young, defensive pairing of Kaboul and Vertonghen establish themselves this season. Lennon and Bale would be the obvious choice for wingers in this system, though the potential arrival of Loic Remy from Marseille or Hulk from Porto could see Lennon’s position under threat. Parker and Sandro should see plenty of game time, and even the likes of the returning Huddlestone and Jenas could well see themselves in Villas-Boas’ plans. Assou-Ekotto and especially Walker are ideal attacking fullbacks for the system, with Naughton and Smith highly touted players for the future in these positions. The striker situation is less clear, with Defoe lacking in form and game time of late, Adebayor’s future still not certain, and no other strikers currently on Tottenham’s books. Hugo Lloris remains a possibility as a long-term replacement for the ageing Brad Friedel, and while Luka Modric’s exit is looking increasingly likely this summer, past form has told us that Villas-Boas will move heaven and Earth to get his man in midfield, with previous Porto signing Joao Moutinho looking a distinct possibility. With Spurs chairman Levy reportedly ready to open the chequebook to the tune of £50m, AVB should certainly have the resources to implement his system this season. How he will fare regarding results remains to be seen.

How Spurs may line up next season should Vertonghen, Moutinho and Lloris sign for the club.